ULaw head Stelios Platis stands down

New CEO will be the third the uni has had since it was bought last year

ULaw

The CEO of the University of Law (ULaw), Stelios Platis, has stood down from his post after just five months at the helm.

A spokesperson for the university has told Legal Cheek the board of the Global University Systems group (GUS) — an education company that owns ULaw — has asked Platis:

[T]o undertake a new assignment specifically focussed on the strategic development of GUS international operations.

Platis’ shoes will be filled by Professor Andrea Nollent, who will be ULaw’s third CEO since the company was bought by GUS in the summer of 2015.

When the company changed hands, top boss John Latham stood down and was duly replaced by former Stansted and Edinburgh airport managing director David Johnston. Platis took over in May this year; now it’s Nollent’s turn.

What do we know about the university’s new head?

Nollent was, until now, the vice-chancellor of ULaw. Unlike her predecessor, she has an extensive career in law and legal education. She holds a law degree from the University of Dundee and a masters degree in jurisprudence from Durham University, and has worked at both Sheffield Hallam University and Nottingham Trent University.

By contrast Platis — a former politician in Cyprus — is from a non-law background. He has an undergraduate degree in accounting, finance and economics from the University of Essex, and a masters degree and PhD in financial economics from Cambridge. His wife is a lawyer and holds a PhD in law.

Platis was interviewed this summer by the Legal Cheek Careers team about, among other things, what non-law graduates can bring to the profession.